Swim 'Fenn'

We recently signed Fenn up for his very first swimming lesson. We're excited about this and can't wait to see how Fenn does in the class because he has loved the water since he was born. We're hoping we have a natural swimmer on our hands. The class is taught by Mr. Ed of Adventure Swim School here in Knoxville. Mr. Ed has a pretty extensive resume and is well-known for his teaching methods. Fenn's class begins on Saturday, April 25th and meets each Saturday for 5 weeks. Dan will be the one getting in the pool with Fenn, while mommy photographs and videos everything from the side of the pool. Hopefully, the birth of Piperbean #2 won't interfere with the classes. We don't think it will because it is not likely my OB doctor will schedule my induction for a weekend. So the only way it could interfere would be if I went into labor on my own over a weekend. Anyway, after the baby is born, this will be a good opportunity for Dan to do something special away from the house with Fenn. And really there will only be 1 or 2 more classes remaining after the bean's arrival. This is the Parent/Tot I class and then we'll sign him up for the Parent/Tot II class this summer. We want to get in as many lessons this year as possible.

On the topic of Piperbean #2... Check out the baby countdown in the right-hand column over there. Can you believe we only have less than 90 days to go?!?! {As of the day of this post, we have 12 weeks to go!} We still have so much to do to get ready for our new bean's arrival. We're getting closer on a name for him. Pretty soon, I'll probably post a "Baby Name Poll" so everyone can vote for their favorite. We're not necessarily going to pick the name with the most votes. But it will be interesting to see what everyone thinks.

Sleeping In

On Sunday morning, we experienced something that NEVER, EVER happens ~ both Dan AND Fenn slept in late. Dan actually slept until 6:45 a.m. (when he normally wakes anywhere from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.) And if ever he does feel like he could have slept longer (or would have slept longer if not for his alarm clock or our other alarm clock ~ Fenn), it is during the week when he has to get up to go to work. And Fenn slept until 7:15 a.m. Same as daddy... he's normally an early riser and wakes up around 6:00 a.m. every morning. I actually heard him moving around and talking at 6:00, but stayed in bed since he wasn't fussing. Eventually, he drifted back off to sleep. Yay!!! And I slept until around 8:00 a.m.! We skipped church because of our late start and had a nice breakfast. After lunch, Fenn had a bath. {That's when these photos were taken.} Then we went for a nice long walk through the park and played on the slides. It was a nice Sunday.

We're hoping Fenn will start sleeping a little later now. We really think it's going to happen soon because he's showing signs of being ready to cut his daily naps down from 2 naps to 1 long, mid-day nap (which we hope means he'll be really tired at night and will need more sleep). He also seems really tired and sleepy only an hour or two after waking up in the mornings ~ another sign that he needs to sleep later each day. Right now, he goes down for a morning nap between 9:30 and 10:00 and goes down for an afternoon nap around 3:00. But the afternoon naps seem to be getting shorter, and we're also noticing it is harder to get him to go down for that nap ~ sometimes not getting him down until almost 4:00. The one nap per day routine will be nice in a lot of ways because we'll have a longer stretch in the afternoons where we can go somewhere. But when Bean #2 arrives, I think we'll pretty much be stranded all day at home with sleeping kids. The new bean will be napping in the mornings and afternoons, and Fenn will be napping mid-day.
Here are a few more new things about Fenn...

:: He knows the signs for 'water' and 'milk'. For water, you tap three fingers on your chin. Fenn's version is to tap his whole hand on his mouth. Pretty close! For milk, you open and close your hand kind of like you're milking a cow. He pretty much does that one correctly.
:: I'm sure I have mentioned before how much he loves cheese. Well, that's one of his new words, except it comes out more like "djeez".
:: He also says 'cookie', which comes out as "kaa kaa".
:: On Sunday morning, we noticed that both his upper AND lower left canine teeth have broken through. So that just leaves the right canines and the second molars.
:: On Saturday, I was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa and Dan was standing beside the sofa, and we were talking while Fenn was playing in the family room. Next thing we knew, Fenn was up on the sofa. He had climbed up there completely on his own.
:: As you can see by these photos, Fenn also loves bubbles. That's another one of his words; he says "buh buh".

Hugs and Kisses to our little Ladies Man

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

OK, so I'm a couple of days late getting this out here (it is actually Feb. 16th that I'm posting this). But I wanted to make sure to get some Valentine's Day photos posted. I found this cute t-shirt for Fenn at Gymboree... very fitting since he's kind of known as the resident ladies man at school. They had a party at school on Friday, and Fenn even got to go next door to the Toddler 1 room to see Annabelle. I'm told they gave each other a big hug and kiss. Annabelle was moved up to the Toddler 1 room a few weeks ago, so the happy couple has been separated. Ella Kate and Mary Frances are about to move up to the Toddler 1 room, too, so the only girl in Fenn's class will be Ariyanna. Fenn will probably move up to the Toddler 1 room in the next 2 or 3 months, once they have room. But for the time being, he'll be hanging out with mostly boys in his class.

During this photo session on Friday afternoon after picking Fenn up from school, this is what I caught Fenn doing...

More Cute Stuff About Fenn...

I've been trying to find the time to do this post for a couple of weeks now. I actually started it then, but haven't had time to download photos and figure out which ones to use. I'm backdating this one a little so I can keep my posts in chronological order. Anyway, this is another one of those random posts with lots of little tidbits about what Fenn is doing these days.
We went to visit Grami and Poppy over the weekend and had beautiful weather, and some of these photos are from the trip. Grami and Poppy live in north Georgia near Helen in a woodsy, gated community with hiking trails, a lake, and horses. Fenn enjoyed playing outside near the lake, walking over the bridge, going to a nearby playground, meeting some of the horses,... oh, and meeting the barn's resident cat. At the playground, Dan took Fenn down the enclosed spiral slide... and Fenn came out at the bottom with a huge smile on his face. Unfortunately, we were out mid-day, so the harshness of the sun affected my photos. {It's really hard to get good photos in that kind of light.} I kind of wish we had waited to go out later in the day, after Fenn's nap, when the sun was not so harsh.

So.... what is Fenn doing these days?

:: He loves sitting and playing in his little chair. He even stands up in it and jumps up and down while holding onto the back. I predict our first trip to the ER in the not so distant future. {If you look closely at the photo below, you can see his crooked tooth (the one he broke a few months ago) and some of his molars.}

:: I have commented several times about how much he likes books. Now he'll actually pick out a book, bring it to you, turn around, back up, and sit down in your lap. Sometimes, he doesn't quite get close enough and he'll sit down too early.
:: He doesn't actually say the word 'dog' yet. The way he says 'dog' is to stick out his tongue and pant like a dog. {According to a little baby's book of sign language I have, that's actually the sign for 'dog'.... at least the one for babies to use.}
:: He takes Petey's football to him and tries to give it to him. Or, he'll bring it to me so I can throw it down the hall and make Petey go get it.
:: Last Sunday morning when I was sleeping in, Dan said that twice Fenn went and stood outside our bedroom door saying "Ma Ma Ma Ma". Dan finally brought him in and let him wake me up. That's the best way to wake up ever!
:: A couple of times when I have asked him if he's ready to eat breakfast or dinner, he has walked over to his high chair and waited for me to put him in it.

:: He now says 'Uh Oh' when he drops something.... but he says it as "Uh Uh" or "Uh Oo".
:: He has mastered getting on and off the Mickey Mouse truck he got from his Uncle T and Aunt A. We even caught him standing up on the seat with the proudest look on his face. I'll repeat... ER, we'll be visiting you soon!
:: We've had a step ladder in his new bedroom for a while now because Dan was using it to paint the room. If you don't keep an eye on him, he tries to climb it.
:: He has started taking the throw pillows off the sofa and putting them on the floor and then diving onto them.
:: The other day, he disappeared into his room and his daddy followed him a few seconds later. Fenn was sitting on the floor trying to put on his shoes. And another day, I followed him into our room and he was trying to put his feet in his daddy's shoes.

Another Look at Piperbean #2

We went for our 24-week ultrasound yesterday. They said he's approximately 1 lb. 11 oz. right now, has a heart rate of 144 bpm, and is actually measuring about a week ahead (per his head circumference). He's positioned side-to-side right now; his head is on my left side and his feet are over on my right side. Everything looked good ~ the baby, my fluid, etc. This little booger didn't want to cooperate completely with us. He kept his face up against my placenta, the umbilical cord kept getting in the way, and he kept putting his left hand up to his face. This was actually a 3D/4D ultrasound, so the pictures provide a little more detail. Keep in mind that you're still looking at the baby via sound waves and it picks up other stuff that makes the baby look a little odd. I'll do my best to describe what you're seeing in each photo. {NOTE: If you want to see all of the ultrasound photos from yesterday, look over in the right-hand column under the heading More Photos of Piperbean #2, and click on the link: Piperbean #2's Ultrasound Photos. There are actually 22 photos, but I'm only posting 4 here on the blog.}

The first photo is probably my favorite because you can see his left hand so clearly. You can see all 4 fingers and his thumb. His arm is bent, so you can see his elbow. And you should be able to make out where his eyes, nose, and mouth are located. On the left side of the photo (which is the right side of his face) you see a big blurry area ~ that's the placenta getting in the way of the photo.
In the next photo, you actually get a decent view of his face. It is still a little distorted by the placenta on his right side... because he just loves hugging up to it! But you can see the shape of his sweet little head, his eyes are closed, his cute little nose, and his mouth.
In this photo, it is a similar view to the one above. You're still seeing a big area of placenta on the right side of his face. He must really be pressed up against it good here. But you can still see the shape of his head, his eyes, his sweet little nose, and his mouth is open! On the left side of his face (right-hand side of photo), you'll see two weird looking tube shapes. That's actually a cross-section of his left arm, bent beside his head. It's a little strange looking, but if you think about it for a minute, it makes sense.
And the last photo shows more of a profile of his face. You can see his forehead, his eyes, his nose, and his mouth (which is open). Ignore the dark black "ring" where his right eye is located. That's just the machine picking up the bone structure of his eye socket. His eye is not deformed. Below his mouth and chin, you can see that he has his left hand pulled up next to his cheek. He was actually sucking on a finger at one point. And one time, we saw him rubbing his left eye with his hand.
He actually looks a little like Fenn at this point. Looking back at Fenn's ultrasound photos, their noses are identical.

Almost 14 Months Old... and even some stuff about Mommy

This is going to be one of those hodge-podge posts. Fenn has changed so much over the past month and a half. So I thought I should do a blog post to document some of the new things he's doing and saying. I am amazed at how much he has learned in such a short period of time.

~ At the time of his birthday party on December 6th, he was only taking 6 to 8 steps at a time. By Christmas, he was walking all over the house.
~ He has mastered the squat. He squats down, picks something up, and then comes back up to a stand with ease.
~ He can come up to a standing position from a kneeling position without using his hands to assist him.
~ He likes to stand at the top of the stairs and throw things over the baby gate (balls, plastic stars, plastic food storage containers, whatever amuses him). He laughs when he sees them going down the stairs.
~ If you ask him if he wants to take a bath, he starts repeating the word (for him, it's more like "Baa") and will walk to the bathroom.
~ He finally learned how to say "Bye Bye", wave goodbye, and blow kisses. He'll blow me a kiss when I drop him off at school and he'll blow a kiss to daddy when daddy is leaving for work each morning.
~ He'll hit you on the face (not realizing what he's doing, of course). When you tell him, "No, don't hit.", he'll nuzzle his head against you as if he's saying "I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me." Total master of manipulation at 13 months old!
~ He's been wearing shoes (Robeez, some StrideRites I got on consignment, some cute infant Converse Chuck Taylor hightops), but I had not had his feet sized so was only guessing at what size he should be wearing. I took him to a local shoe store and he is a size 5 wide (but they actually put him in a 5 1/2 for growing room). Now he has real big boy shoes that fit properly.
~ We're in the process of getting rid of his pacifier and the bottle. He's already off of formula and drinking organic whole milk. He only uses his pacifier during naptime and at night. And we're down to only one bottle at night. He drinks the rest of his milk from a sippy cup during the day.
~ If you ask him where his belly button is, he'll pat on his tummy area. And if you ask him where his head is, he'll pat his head.
~ He likes to dance (well, it's more like a bounce) and even taps his foot to the beat of the music.
~ When Dan was reading a favorite book to him the other morning (The Big Red Barn), he pointed to the cow and the rooster when Dan asked him to do so.
~ He likes to make sure Petey has on his collar each day. When he finds it, he'll pick it up and take it to wherever Petey is and hold it up to Petey's neck.
~ When I took him to the doctor last week, he weighed 23 lbs. 15 oz.

I'm sure there's more I could think of, but I'll stop here.

Plus, I just wrapped up my online photography workshop and thought I would include a few of my favorite photos highlighting some of my new skills. These photos were related to different Assignments I had during the class. I still have a ton to learn and will have to practice every single day. But I do feel like the class was totally worthwhile and I now have a better understanding of the exposure triangle (ISO, shutter speed, and aperture). I can actually take a photo in full Manual mode now! And I never shoot in 'Program' mode anymore; I mostly shoot in Aperture Priority mode. Now I'm looking forward to getting to the point where it is more like second nature and I don't have to think so much (and so long) about what settings to use and can concentrate more on the creative side of taking photos.

I just like the lighting on this first shot. Sweet photo of Fenn with his daddy.On this shot, my ISO was set too high and it caused some digital noise in the photo, but I still like it.This is a photo I took looking up into the Winterking Hawthorne we have in our frontyard. I used a wide aperture and focused on one branch causing the other branches in the background to be blurred.And this photo is one that I'm most proud of. Our assignment was to think of a creative way to either freeze motion or imply motion. I decided I wanted to freeze motion. Dan put the hose up on the roof to get the water coming down the rain chain next to our front porch. This is moving water... NOT ice. Check out the lens flare off that one droplet of water!

Snow Day!

It snowed on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Even though it snowed all day on Monday, we didn't really have anything stick until early Tuesday morning when it snowed some more. That caused daycare to be closed. So I had Fenn home with me for 2 days ~ Monday because of the MLK holiday and Tuesday because of the snow. Fenn wasn't feeling 100% on Monday, but I bundled him up and took him outside anyway. I wanted him to see the snow just in case we don't get any more this year. Am I a bad mommy??? It was only for a few minutes! Then I took him out again on Tuesday morning... once again, only for a few minutes. We had an appointment to go to the doctor that afternoon because he ended up running a low-grade fever on Monday afternoon. He has yet another ear infection. His doctor said he's borderline for possibly needing tubes in his ears. She said we'll watch him over the next couple of months before deciding to have him evaluated by an ENT doctor. So say a prayer that he won't need tubes. And before you scold me for taking him out in the cold with an ear infection, keep in mind that being outside in cold weather does not cause colds or ear infections. Colds come from viruses you pick up from being in contact with other people. And ear infections are caused when the fluid in the middle ear (from a cold or respiratory infection) doesn't drain properly and bacteria builds up. Anyway, I managed to get a few cute shots of him in his big winter coat and doggy puppet hat. He seemed to like the snow falling on his face.The first photo was taken just after it started snowing. You can barely see the snow flakes in the picture. The next 3 photos were taken during lunch when it was snowing a little harder and I had daddy here to help me. And the last photo was taken on Tuesday morning when we actually had some snow on the ground. I had to snap quickly because I didn't want him outside for very long.

Do You Smile When You Go To The Dentist?

We just got this card in the mail. The dentist had told me they would be sending it, but I had actually completely forgotten about it since it has been a while now. This is a photo from Fenn's very first visit to the dentist back in November. If you missed that post, Fenn somehow somewhere broke his upper left central incisor. It broke off at an angle and left a sharp point on one side. We have no idea how he did it because he never cried. I just noticed it one night after a bath. This little accident has led to several visits to the dentist so far for follow-up (seems a little like overkill to me... but what do I know?). He's had several x-rays and even had the tooth filed down to soften the sharp point. So far, the dentist hasn't detected any nerve damage so we think his tooth and future permanent tooth are both fine.

We've hit the ground running in 2009. We have already cleared out the guest bedroom upstairs to get ready to paint for Fenn's new big boy room. He'll still be in a crib for a while longer, so we'll decorate minimally for now. But when the time comes, we'll get him a new big boy bed and decorate the room in an airplane theme. (I think this is the bedding we'll be using. Just the airplane quilt on the wall, the Flight School sham, and matching pillow... not the other stuff.) We realized we have to get the room painted and set up for him BEFORE Dan gets busy with tax season, or else it won't get done in time. We hope to get it painted this weekend.

As for baby boy #2, I forgot to mention that I have been feeling him move for a few weeks now. And on Christmas night, he was moving so much that Dan was able to feel him for the first time. So that was a nice Christmas present. Most of the time, the movements are much more subtle than that. I guess he was excited about Christmas! No name yet for this little bean. We're tossing around a few ideas, but are no where close to making a final decision. With Fenn, I don't think we decided for sure until about 1 to 2 months out.

We're Having a... Precious... Adorable... Little... ???

We just got back from our 20-week ultrasound a little while ago. We're happy and excited to report that we're having a...PRECIOUS... ADORABLE... LITTLE... BOY!!! Yes, it's another boy. I will officially be outnumbered by all the boys in our household, including Petey, our male dog. And I suppose I will forever be outnumbered because I'm not sure we're likely to ever have a girl dog, as I have always preferred male dogs. And I won't say the door is COMPLETELY closed for another baby. Let's just say there's a very small, minuscule crack in the door. There have been plenty of times when we've both said we'd kind of like to have 3 kids. But because of our ages (me being 40 and Dan being 44), we're just not sure we could keep up with 3 little ones so close together at this point in our lives. And like Fenn and this little boy, the third baby would have to come along pretty quickly because of my age and the risks of having a baby into your 40's. And I'm just not so sure I will be ready to be pregnant again so quickly. I have good pregnancies (except for those pesky daily shots in the belly), but I'm not one of those women who loves being pregnant. Who knows... maybe we'll adopt that little girl in a couple of years.

For those who aren't familiar with how to read ultrasounds, I'll give a little information about the photos above.
Photo #1 ~ You're looking at a profile. The baby's head is to the left and you should be able to pretty easily make out the nose, mouth, and chin. From there, you should be able to tell what area is the body. There's an arm above the body. And you can see one leg pulled up (all the way to your right in the photo)... the knee is pointing upward.
Photo #2 ~ This one is identical to photo #1.
Photo #3 ~ You're primarily looking down on the baby's face. The top of his head is on the right-hand side of the photo. You can see where the eye sockets are located. Between the eyes, you can see a dark area which is the nose. And above the eyes is a larger dark area which is his brain.
Photo #4 ~ This one is very similar to photo #3, but a little bit better shot of him. Same information for the head, eyes, nose area, etc. You can even kind of tell where his mouth is. You can see the round area to the left of the head, which is his body. Around where you think the shoulders should be (on each side), you can see smaller round areas. Those are his arms... except you're not seeing them stretched out.
Photo #5 ~ This is the money shot. And this one is a little harder to figure out because he's all scrunched up in a ball and you're kind of looking from down underneath him. The ARROW is pointing at his penis. Up above that, you can see one of his legs and kind of tell where his foot is to the right of that body part... even seeing some toes. On the far right-hand side of the photo is his face. You should be able to make out the 2 eye sockets and the nose area.

At first, the ultrasound technician was thinking it was a girl {although, she didn't let on to us what she was thinking}. But that's because he was moving so much and staying drawn up into a ball with his legs close together. He finally spread out those legs enough for her to get a better look. This is not one of the 3D/4D ultrasounds. We'll get that next time, in about another 4 weeks. We're buying the package, so we'll actually get two more ultrasounds and they'll both be 3D/4D. Those are the ones that are so clear and show so much detail.

On another note, be sure to scroll down a good ways and check out all the recent blog posts I've done. I just got the blog caught up last night and there are 4 or 5 new posts since Thanksgiving (including Fenn's first birthday, Fenn's meeting with Santa, Fenn being the ladies man, Fenn's 12-month onesie photo & pediatrician visit, and Christmas). So be sure to check all of those out. There are lots and lots of photos (because I'm terrible at editing them down)!

Christmas 2008 ~ Fenn's 2nd Christmas

Fenn's 2nd Christmas was tons of fun. It was also a very busy time and went by so fast. Dan and I were pretty much exhausted by the time Christmas actually arrived because it seems we were running behind schedule the entire month. It all started with Thanksgiving being a little later this year and us going out of town. Then the very next weekend was Fenn's birthday party. So unlike last year (when we had everything done ~ decorating, shopping, etc. ~ by December 10th when Fenn was born), we didn't even start decorating or shopping until AFTER Fenn's birthday. Actually, after Fenn's birthday weekend, we were all sick with some mystery bug that wouldn't go away. Plus, Dan was working on a deadline for a client. So by the time we were feeling well enough and had enough time to go out to get a Christmas tree, it was December 13th! We also did all of our shopping online this year because we just didn't have time to go shopping. And I was bound and determined I was going to do some baking this year. I had planned to make 4 different cookies this year. Yes, I managed to get them done, but I was still baking on Christmas day! Oh well... we'll do better next year. Regardless of how rushed and stressed we were this year, it was still a nice holiday and we feel so blessed to have Fenn. It was so much fun watching him, especially since he's walking now and is so curious about everything around him. Grami and Poppy (Dan's parents) arrived on Christmas Eve. We went out for our traditional Christmas Eve meal of mexican food {that was Fenn's first outing last year at only 2 weeks old.} and then went to Christmas Eve service at church. Once we got home, it was time to get Fenn into his new Christmas pajamas and off to bed. It's funny to think about how late we stayed up this year getting ready for Santa Claus and wrapping the rest of our presents, because we only had one toy to put together. But we were actually up until around 1:00 a.m. Christmas morning, Fenn actually slept until around 6:15. Dan got him up and went ahead and fed him... and kept him out of the den. Afterward, we took him back to his room and let him walk down the hall and into the den to see what Santa had brought for him. His two big gifts were the Cozy Convertible Coupe and a crawl Tunnel. After opening presents and taking lots of pictures, we had a late Christmas breakfast which included Granddad's Sweet Rolls {we made them using Dan's granddad Joe's recipe}. Later, we went for a Christmas day walk and Fenn rode in his new car. We had an early Christmas dinner of beef tenderloin, asparagus, and hash brown casserole. We decided we wanted something non-traditional this year. That's about it for our Christmas festivities. The rest of the weekend was spent working on a couple of small projects and just trying to rest. I actually started feeling bad late on the day after Christmas and was feeling horrible on Saturday. Now, we're back on our normal schedule this week and hoping we'll all be well for a while. Here are some photos from Christmas 2008...
Out shopping for a Christmas tree.Just having fun one night, a few nights before Christmas.Eating breakfast on Christmas morning. I just thought the expression on Fenn's face in this photo was kind of funny.

Fenn coming down the hall Christmas morning.Fenn in his new car.

That's daddy teasing Petey with one of his new toys from Santa.Strangely enough, Fenn was actually very interested in playing with Petey's new food bowls.

Fenn with Daddy on Christmas night.Fenn with Mommy on Christmas night.Fenn with Grami and Poppy.I just like this photo because he kind of looks like he's dancing.Bath time on Christmas night.Crawling through his new tunnel.